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Rift: Dev Team Rocked By Layoffs

2

Comments

  • wowcloneswowclones Member Posts: 127
    Next weeks headline, "Rift to go free to play."
  • DSWBeefDSWBeef Member UncommonPosts: 789
    Sad to hear it. Trion and FC are IMO the only AAA mmo devs actively listening to their communities..... I hope Defiance is great and will pick them up.

    Playing: FFXIV, DnL, and World of Warships
    Waiting on: Ashes of Creation

  • CelciusCelcius Member RarePosts: 1,868
    Originally posted by ereyethirn
    Originally posted by Celcius

    I hope this does not mean the calibur of updates will go down. They have done really awesome so far and other then possibly GW2, no one else has come close to the rate of content updates Rift has had. 

    When it comes to content updates I don't think anyone comes out with them faster than the secret world. Ever sinse launch there has been a major update with lots in it every month with no exceptions thus far.

    Lol really? TSW updates are a joke. A handful of new missions? 

    Issue 1: July 31st

    Delayed marketplace (supposed to be in at launch), 2 new versions of old dungeons (lol), New missions that take a few hours to complete

    Issue 2: Delayed for weeks, September 18th (almost 2 months later)

    More new versions of old dungeons, LFG tool, new missions,barber shop, new weapon (decent patch, but not nearly the calibur of a Rift/GW2 patch and took longer)

    Issue 3:  Sept 26th (turned around delay, but patch content suffers)

    New missions and new event missions 

    Issue 4: November 15th (so much for monthly patches huh)

    A useless theatre zone for social events that no one uses, raid delayed even with the huge gap between issues, new weapon, new decks (continued imbalances in pvp included), terrible reticule target mode that no one uses, new version of old dungeon, new missions

    So yeah as you can see TSW is not doing as well as you make it out to be with content patches. They may patch fairly often, but that is quickly changing and the lack of content they are offering within each patch is pretty insignificant. The latest patch has alot of stuff in it that is worthless or doesnt do much to improve the game, but the 2nd issue they did well with. It seems to me like they are still using content that was developed by the staff before they laid people off post launch. 

  • ZorgoZorgo Member UncommonPosts: 2,254
    Originally posted by feena750
    They have a lot of good stuff, but they need a new and exciting system to diffirentiate themselves from other MMOs.

    What....like 'rifts' or something.....

     

     

  • CelciusCelcius Member RarePosts: 1,868
    Originally posted by Zorgo
    Originally posted by feena750
    They have a lot of good stuff, but they need a new and exciting system to diffirentiate themselves from other MMOs.

    What....like 'rifts' or something.....

     

     

    Honestly if someone claims something like that at this point it is because they have not played the game recently (or probably since launch). Sure, the game was pretty much a WoW clone at launch, but Trion has added new systems and content that has changed the direction of the game completely and how it looks today. It really is not nearly as much like WoW now. Stuff like Onslaughts, in game weddings, world events, hard raids without hard modes, constantly evolving rift system, chronicles,conquest,escalation alternative warfronts, housing,the quest structure in SL, ect really have gone a long way to make it different. 

  • BlueLanternBlueLantern Member Posts: 96
    Originally posted by wowclones
    Next weeks headline, "Rift to go free to play."

    it's already gone F2P overseas. the US and EU is the last bastion.

    image
    image

  • XiaokiXiaoki Member EpicPosts: 3,847


    Originally posted by Dr_Negative
    Originally posted by Xiaoki The lesson here is DO NOT price expansions to struggling MMOs at $50.
    Trion says sales of it were phenominal though.  They even managed to get 13% of the current subscriber base to drop $100 on the 1-year subscription bundle during pre-orders. Impressive for a "struggling" MMO.
     

    So, you're saying that Trion gave away the expansion for free to 13% of the population is impressive?


    No wonder they are struggling.

  • BlueLanternBlueLantern Member Posts: 96
    Originally posted by Celcius
    Originally posted by ereyethirn
    Originally posted by Celcius

    I hope this does not mean the calibur of updates will go down. They have done really awesome so far and other then possibly GW2, no one else has come close to the rate of content updates Rift has had. 

    When it comes to content updates I don't think anyone comes out with them faster than the secret world. Ever sinse launch there has been a major update with lots in it every month with no exceptions thus far.

    Lol really? TSW updates are a joke. A handful of new missions? 

    Issue 1: July 31st

    Delayed marketplace (supposed to be in at launch), 2 new versions of old dungeons (lol), New missions that take a few hours to complete

    Issue 2: Delayed for weeks, September 18th (almost 2 months later)

    More new versions of old dungeons, LFG tool, new missions,barber shop, new weapon (decent patch, but not nearly the calibur of a Rift/GW2 patch and took longer)

    Issue 3:  Sept 26th (turned around delay, but patch content suffers)

    New missions and new event missions 

    Issue 4: November 15th (so much for monthly patches huh)

    A useless theatre zone for social events that no one uses, raid delayed even with the huge gap between issues, new weapon, new decks (continued imbalances in pvp included), terrible reticule target mode that no one uses, new version of old dungeon, new missions

    So yeah as you can see TSW is not doing as well as you make it out to be with content patches. They may patch fairly often, but that is quickly changing and the lack of content they are offering within each patch is pretty insignificant. The latest patch has alot of stuff in it that is worthless or doesnt do much to improve the game, but the 2nd issue they did well with. It seems to me like they are still using content that was developed by the staff before they laid people off post launch. 

    yea, the only thing worse than the secret world is the ~50k people still clinging to it and pretending to be 40 year olds with distinguished tastes. it's hilarious how people are just living their lives to make noise about it to no avail. it's a bland thempark with laughable updates and still has half the content of other mmo's.

     

    i mean come on....the "mission" in these damn updates are just quests. seriously, there have been more DE's phased into GW2 in any 30 day block since september, lol.

    image
    image

  • xmentyxmenty Member UncommonPosts: 718

    I don't think the layoff has to do anything with Rift MMO.

    Trion has just take over End of Nations development project and they already need to layoff so many people.

    It seems like, they are taking a risk with this game.

    I should think that if the End of Nations bomb so will Trion.

    http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/trion-worlds-taking-over-end-of-nations-development/

     

    Pardon my English as it is not my 1st language :)

  • AcidonAcidon Member UncommonPosts: 796
    Originally posted by DMKano

    It seems mostly QA Rift testers that got hit hard, reading the twitter feeds.... Not sure I'd say that the actual rift dev team got hit hard, as I haven't found any info that the senior devs, server engineers, got impacted at all.

    Its crappy that any folks were let go, but it seems that it is the less essential staff that is not critical now that Storm Legion is launched.

    The timing is still very shitty, during holidays, but most accounting books close dec 31 so the business side of companies tends to suck at times like these.

     

    If that's true I can't really blame them.  I love Rift and Trion as a dev company, but their QA testing has seemed pretty weak.

     

    To those saying Rift isn't anything special, that's okay to have an opinion like that, but I have to disagree completely.  To all those that dismiss Rift as just a WoW Clone you are missing out on an amazing MMORPG.  

    The expansion has added so much that it blows everything else away.  To those saying they need to add things to set themselves apart - they've been doing that successfully for two years.  =)

     

    Call me a fanboy, or whatever, but those dismissing the game as a clone and not trying it out for what it is - you are missing out.  Just sayin'.

     

    Carry on.

     

     

    EDIT to add:  This did surprise me.  Trion was the last company I expected to have layoffs.  But, after thinking about it, it's logical to trim the fat now that the expansion is released and in full swing.  News like this may seem like doom and gloom, but it actually makes sense. *shrug*

  • Dr_NegativeDr_Negative Member UncommonPosts: 47
    Originally posted by Xiaoki

     


    Originally posted by Dr_Negative

    Originally posted by Xiaoki The lesson here is DO NOT price expansions to struggling MMOs at $50.
    Trion says sales of it were phenominal though.  They even managed to get 13% of the current subscriber base to drop $100 on the 1-year subscription bundle during pre-orders. Impressive for a "struggling" MMO.
     

    So, you're saying that Trion gave away the expansion for free to 13% of the population is impressive?

     


    No wonder they are struggling.

     

    For a upfront non-refundable $100 1-year commitment? Nice straw-man you built there. Once again, I didn't say it, they did. But I do agree.

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 5,903

    Sucks that they couldn't move them to their other MMOs or the RTS game they took control of.

     

    Many companies lay off non performers yearly in the guise of cost cutting, but laying off 40 means it goes deeper than just that.

  • CultOfXtcCultOfXtc Member Posts: 378
    Originally posted by Celcius
    Originally posted by ereyethirn
    Originally posted by Celcius

    I hope this does not mean the calibur of updates will go down. They have done really awesome so far and other then possibly GW2, no one else has come close to the rate of content updates Rift has had. 

    When it comes to content updates I don't think anyone comes out with them faster than the secret world. Ever sinse launch there has been a major update with lots in it every month with no exceptions thus far.

    Lol really? TSW updates are a joke. A handful of new missions? 

    Issue 1: July 31st

    Delayed marketplace (supposed to be in at launch), 2 new versions of old dungeons (lol), New missions that take a few hours to complete

    Issue 2: Delayed for weeks, September 18th (almost 2 months later)

    More new versions of old dungeons, LFG tool, new missions,barber shop, new weapon (decent patch, but not nearly the calibur of a Rift/GW2 patch and took longer)

    Issue 3:  Sept 26th (turned around delay, but patch content suffers)

    New missions and new event missions 

    Issue 4: November 15th (so much for monthly patches huh)

    A useless theatre zone for social events that no one uses, raid delayed even with the huge gap between issues, new weapon, new decks (continued imbalances in pvp included), terrible reticule target mode that no one uses, new version of old dungeon, new missions

    So yeah as you can see TSW is not doing as well as you make it out to be with content patches. They may patch fairly often, but that is quickly changing and the lack of content they are offering within each patch is pretty insignificant. The latest patch has alot of stuff in it that is worthless or doesnt do much to improve the game, but the 2nd issue they did well with. It seems to me like they are still using content that was developed by the staff before they laid people off post launch. 

    Really?  Worthless content patches?  Sigh.  TSW is an awesome game and the patches are wicked aswell.  The only Dev that equals them or slightly trumps is Trion.  As a big TSW fan I feel for you guys this is the same doom and gloom TSW has gotten.  Chin up, both great games and if TSW can survive so can Rift. :)

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    OR PM ME FOR A BUDDY KEY (need your email address).

  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297

    "As much as one-third of the development team working on MMO Rift at Trion Worlds was let go on Tuesday"

     

    "refused to confirm either the number affected or whether it was the Rift team specifically"

     

    Those two statements from the article contradict each other. I call bullshit until more is disclosed.

     

    ...wish people would read things properly and journalists (if you can even call them that) had some brains and weren't just trying to score more website hits with their tricks.

    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538
    Originally posted by Acidon
     

    EDIT to add:  This did surprise me.  Trion was the last company I expected to have layoffs.  But, after thinking about it, it's logical to trim the fat now that the expansion is released and in full swing.  News like this may seem like doom and gloom, but it actually makes sense. *shrug*

    No, its not logical.  The logical thing to do would be to start work on the next expansion.  Or at the very least assign people to your newly acquired MMORPG (End of Nations).

     

    Ive been playing MMORPGs for well over a decade at this point.  I have never seen a game that Ive played (EQ, WoW, EQ2 mostly) massively layoff staff after an expansion.  

     

     

  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538
    Originally posted by Vannor

    "As much as one-third of the development team working on MMO Rift at Trion Worlds was let go on Tuesday"

     

    "refused to confirm either the number affected or whether it was the Rift team specifically"

     

    Those two statements from the article contradict each other. I call bullshit until more is disclosed.

     

    ...wish people would read things properly and journalists (if you can even call them that) had some brains and weren't just trying to score more website hits with their tricks.

    These journalists have their sources and there have been multiple reports that Rift staff has been hit.

     

    You have fan site operators posting on the official forums mentioning a friend of theirs that has been with the company for a long time has been let go.

     

    It does seem to be mostly Q&A but not all.

     

     

  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,751
    Originally posted by KhinRunite
    But...Storm Legion...

          Thats just it...Quite often in the software industry when a project is done then quite a few of the devs are laid off, especially if there is nothing on the horizon.....If they decide to do another expansion, then they hire a new round of devs to work on it..... I still have never believed the hype for this game and that it was doing all that well......The quest hub to quest hub theme park is dying a slow death.....

  • GinazGinaz Member RarePosts: 2,470
    Not really surprising.  Most video game companies fire a lot of their employees shortly after release.  Probably the same thing here.  Once the expansion was out the door, some of the employees became superfluous.  Its not necessarily an indicator of success or failure.

    Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?

    Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.

  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538
    Originally posted by Ginaz
    Not really surprising.  Most video game companies fire a lot of their employees shortly after release.  Probably the same thing here.  Once the expansion was out the door, some of the employees became superfluous.  Its not necessarily an indicator of success or failure.

    Im really curious as to where this comes from.

     

    Name AAA MMORPG expansions where this has happened.  I cant think of a single set of layoffs that wasnt due to poor performance.

  • Dr_NegativeDr_Negative Member UncommonPosts: 47
    Originally posted by strangiato2112
    Originally posted by Ginaz
    Not really surprising.  Most video game companies fire a lot of their employees shortly after release.  Probably the same thing here.  Once the expansion was out the door, some of the employees became superfluous.  Its not necessarily an indicator of success or failure.

    Im really curious as to where this comes from.

     

    Name AAA MMORPG expansions where this has happened.  I cant think of a single set of layoffs that wasnt due to poor performance.

    While not an example of a MMO expansion, this is a good writeup on the issue in general as it relates to the gaming industry. Not exactly proof of Trion's case, but It is actually quite common.

    http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/lionhead-layoffs/

    It’s just business as usual in the game industry. Developers staff up to make a huge game, then shed members once it ships because they no longer have anything for them to do. It happens again and again, whether the game is successful or not: Take-Two had a huge hit with Red Dead Redemption in 2010, then immediately canned 40 workers from its Rockstar San Diego studio, calling the layoffs “typical.”

  • InFlamestwoInFlamestwo Member Posts: 662
    If t wasn't for the standard WoW combat Rift could have been a great game.

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  • KroxMalonKroxMalon Member UncommonPosts: 608
    Supprising to hear with all that content rolling out.
  • TBAiTBAi Member UncommonPosts: 12
    I have a friend that worked for Trion World's as customer support. He was actually let go last month, so this isn't much of a surprise to me.
  • kevjardskevjards Member UncommonPosts: 1,452
    sad news indeed..especially for a dedicated team that trion is.not to mention this time of year as well.that makes it xtra sad
  • knapuknapu Member Posts: 131
    Easy answer they concetrate on theyre new mmofps .All about money...

    I am the punishment of God...
    If you had not committed great sins,
    God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you
    — Genghis Khan

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